VCU's Brandenberg playing his best basketball

RICHMOND, Va.—Rob Brandenberg's first season at VCU ended at the Final Four, and the Rams have not only been back in the tournament every year since, they have won their opener the last two seasons.

Now, the senior shooting guard is playing his best basketball of the season heading into his final opportunity to do something special again.

The fifth-seeded Rams play Stephen F. Austin, winners of 28 straight, on Friday in San Diego.

"This is my last ride," Brandenberg said, "so I want to leave it all out there."

Brandenberg has not always been a consistent scorer, but he's coming off an 18-point effort in VCU's loss to Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 tournament championship. He also scored 18 in his final home game, a victory against Saint Bonaventure, and is averaging 11.3 points in his last eight games.

VCU is 28-3 in the last 31 games when Brandenberg tallies at least 11 points.

One key to Brandenberg's good performances, coach Shaka Smart said this week, is reminding him to brush off mistakes and keep playing.

"What I've told our guys lately, and especially for Rob, is you don't have to play perfect," Smart said. "Go out there and play and if you make a mistake, make it an aggressive mistake that you're going after something. I think he's really taken that mentality of, 'I'm going to be really aggressive,' and that's helped his game.

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As with many players, seeing shots go in helps, too, especially since the Rams were without Melvin Johnson, their best 3-point threat and the A-10's top sixth man, against Saint Joe's. Johnson has a sprained left knee, will not play Friday and his status beyond that is unclear.

Off his recent success—he made three 3-pointers against Saint Joe's—Brandenberg is ready to help shoulder the added scoring load created by Johnson's absence. Johnson averaged 10.4 points this year.

"I'm in a good rhythm offensively," Brandenberg said, "but I also think it's a sense of urgency, just wanting to play hard, give myself a chance to win. If we fail, I can be able to sleep at night knowing that I gave it my all. That's just the mentality that I've been taking the past few weeks."

Around campus, the buzz hardly seems to have subsided from that remarkable 2011 run to the Final Four. The Rams were one of the last four teams to make the field, opened in a play-in game in Dayton, Ohio, and knocked off five BSC-level schools to reach Houston. They fell to Butler in the national semifinals.

"It never gets old," Brandenberg said of seeing VCU's name in the 68-team field. Knowing the next time it happens, he'll be a fan, however, has Brandenberg hoping to enjoy the experience.

"It's trying to get that mindset of just having fun," he said, "and seeing how long we can ride this thing out."